Business
Monopoly concerns in Telecommunications Industry of proposed LIME/Flow merger
Telecommunications ministers from the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) are due to meet in St. Lucia, Thursday, to discuss ramifications of the planned merger of the British telecommunications company, Cable and Wireless (CWC) – the owners of LIME and Columbus Communications International – which is branded as Flow Communications in most of the Caribbean region.
According to St. Lucia’s Telecommunications’ Minister James Fletcher, the members of the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) will meet for the talks, which he described as are crucial given the fact that the recent merger is a source of grave concern to the entire region.
“We need to fully appraise ourselves of the regulatory issues involved in the merger, the options available to us, and to agree on a common agenda moving forward, in our engagement with LIME and with this new entity, LIME/Flow,” he said.
The talks are expected to result in the regional telecommunications regulator formulating proposals from the merger announced 2 weeks ago.
The Director General of the OECS Commission, Didicus Jules, is also expected to attend the meeting, which is being held amidst several concerns about the monopolization of the delivery of internet and wireless services.
“Data delivery is really what is driving commerce and social interaction, in fact in some instances this is even what is driving telephone communications, because telephone services are now being delivered via data. So the consolidation of Lime and Flow is worrying for us in that regard,” Fletcher said.
He said when Columbus International entered the regional market it operated as a disrupter, doing things that the incumbents were not doing.
“Such as giving more band-wells, a better price per megabyte of service, so we would not like to see the LIME/Flow merged entity rolling back on some of these concessions that were very positive for the consuming public,” he noted.
Fletcher said the existing legislation guiding the operation guiding the operations of the telecommunications sector should be updated to among other things, back date the establishment of a fair trade commission to protect the interests of consumers.
Last month, the regulator warned that both CWC and Columbus Communications could be in breach of their licenses if they engage in activities, which can unfairly prevent, restrict, or distort competition.
The statement from ECTEL last Wednesday, was in response to the proposed purchase of Columbus (Flow) by CWC (LIME) announced earlier.
It said that in reviewing the preliminary information available on the planned purchase, under the current regulatory regime, telecommunications license holders including CWC and Columbus maybe in breach of their licenses.
“The decision to combine business by the 2 companies can have a negative impact on the telecoms sector and this has provided further impetus for the revision of existing legislation and rules governing competition in the sector, including the proposed new Electronic Communications Bill,” ECTEL statement read in part.
The regulator cautioned that this development could potentially result in a negative impact on competition, and reduce choice by consumers of both services and service providers. -(CMC)
Columbus Communications (Flow) is a cable television and Broadband speed Internet service provider. Operating as a regional media company, Flow is currently financially based in Barbados and provides services in the Bahamas, Grenada, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. The company is the brain-child of Jamaican billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist Michael Lee-Chin.